How long have you been GREEN?

While we're talking about being "green," I read an interesting factoid today. Scientists at Oak Ridge National Laboratory have done a calculation and announced that people who did their holiday shopping via the internet rather than driving to the stores prevented an estimated 500 metric tons of carbon from being generated. Regardless of what we drive, we contribute to this problem as long as we have a vehicle that consumes fossil fuels. As Prius drivers, we manage to pollute less than our fellow drivers; but we pollute nonetheless.

 

I think I must have been born that way.

 

I do wonder, however, whether someone has studied the impact of the incredibly excessive packing that accompanies my internet purchases. The shipping box is 2x the size of the product I purchased and the box is filled with inflated plastic chambers or packing noodles. Oh, and more catalogues and other papers I don't want (except the invoice).

Such WASTE!! From production to disposal...

 

CORRECTION: I went back and re-read the study. They've calculated that internet shoppers saved 500,000 metric tons of carbon from being put into the environment. This is the equivalent amount that would be saved if 63% of our drivers did not drive for one day.

 

It's even more mind-boggling if you consider the amount of energy that's consumed in our efforts to bring these goods to the marketplace! In addition to production costs, there are the costs (as you correctly point out) of packaging them, then you have shipping them from the factory to the point(s) of purchase, etc. A lot of dinosaurs died in order to get me my LL Bean shirt!

 

How long have you been wearing LL Bean?

 

Not as long as my wife!

Needless to say I agree that driving a Prius is just a sensible "NON" wastefull practice without compromise, since I used to drive a 4 litre Ford.

The one thing I am concerned about is that we (all of Australia) have the highest carbon footprint per capita of anyone in the world, but only contribute (due to low population) 1.2% of the worlds carbon emissions and half of that is industry and power production.

Every day more of our workforce is swapped out for people working remotely from India and Sri Lanka (particularily the IT area) and these people previously not working and consuming are increasing there very low carbon footprints. Currently India and Pakistan contribut over 20% of the worlds carbon emissions.

I just don't think what we do is going to be effective enough to make a change in time.

Don't get me wrong. Being conservative with all resources is the way to go, but with Billions of people in China and India all trying to increase their lifestyles (= carbon increase) we are doomed unless something drastic is done.

If every person in the USA drove a hybrid it would reduce the worlds carbon emissions by 5% (half of the current vehicle polution). If everyone in China with a vehicle swapped to hybrid it would reduce the worlds carbon emissions by a further 15%, but in Australia - close to zero and that is why we only have the Prius and the Honda Civic to chose from.

A dilemna!!

 

But when you look at how fast good changes happen when the tipping point is reached, things happen fast. Little discussion of the Ozone hole anymore. The phase out of CFCs was incredibly fast once the economics, education, and political awareness lined up. A number of fisheries are starting to be managed, with a lot more progress needed, but it is happening.

Once the concept of being "Greener than the Joneses" starts to take root.....

 

At least there is a way to get off the mailing list of catalogs:

Catalog Choice

NOTE: This site works with IE, not with FireFox. I do not know if it works with Safari.

 

You can always be an example to the next person, and the next. Or to manufacturers making global products. That's a big reason why I splurged and bought a Prius rather than a used small car. GM is apparently finally seeing the light about hybrids, I can't see it's because of me any more than a particular hurricane is because of global warming, but the net effect pushed them that way. Australia is banning old-style light bulbs, and that's making the news here in the states, looks like we'll do the same eventually.
Many developing countries are skipping the land-line phone stage and going straight to cell phones. Hopefully we can convince them to skip the harmful coal and petroleum burning stages and go to thermal solar power, geothermal, green buildings, electric cars and other technologies that produce a better quality of life.
Might be too late for much of China unfortunately. Not enough incentive there to innovate, under Communism you keep your job if you just make more of the same things.

 

Hey, what's wrong with LL Bean?

 

Nothing. It's just that billarb noted that a lot of dinosaurs died to deliver his (her?) LL Bean shirts. That's clearly a customer from back in the day.

 

Sorry! I guess my comment about dinosaurs was obtuse. I was referring to the fact that "fossil fuel" is the legacy of all the dinosaurs! And while I enjoy LL Bean, Eddie Bauer is my best buddy! I'm 6'6" tall and old LL makes most of his (her) stuff for shorter folks. Eddie B works better for tall guys!

No more dinosaur comments from me. I promise!

Billarb

 

So, assuming you don't live adjacent a trail head, you ride your bikes there? I not trying to be snotty, but its not clear how your choice of recreation is any greener than, say, sitting on the couch with a six-pack watching football. I'll give it to you over stock car racing, however.

 

I disagree and I'm not sure where you get your number from.
My research shows Australia is 3 below the USA in per capita CO2 emissions at about 3/4 of the USA and there are 9 countries with higher per capita CO2 emissions than the USA however all of those countries combined have a population of less than 10 million and over half are oil producing countries that export oil to the USA and Australia and other first world countries. (2004 numbers)
List of countries by carbon dioxide emissions per capita - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

I feel we need to act as individuals. If we each keep pumping 16+ tonnes of CO2 into the atmosphere who are we to tell India and China not to do the same?

It is up to all of us to cut our CO2 emissions and encourage emerging economies to embrace clean technologies as they advance. How can a person who emits 20 tonnes of CO2 ask another who produces less than 4 tonnes to produce less?

 

Its an evolutionary process.

When I was a kid in middle school (late 60's); the boy scout troup collected newspapers 2x/year and we shipped them off to a recycling plant. The middle school held glass bottle drives several times a year; we filled up several truck loads and recycled them. Kids collected soda bottles and took them back to the stores for the 2c deposits. Dad had several large compost piles, the idea of bagging your yard waste and sending it to the landfill was alien to me. We paid 30 something cents a gallon for gas, and dad drove a car that on a good day got maybe 12 miles a gallon.

So we recycled, and composted, but burned up a huge amount of fuel. The number of towns supporting such activities was limited. There was no such concept as 'curbside recycling'.

Nowdays we don't pay deposits on returnable bottles, everything is disposable. Forturnately we now have a big blue trash bin and curbside recycling. The problem is one of getting more folks on board with participating in the recycling programs - its still voluntary in my city. Most of my neighbors wonder what that 60' long pile of leaves, clippings, etc in my side yard is. At least they now recognize the word 'compost' when I tell them. The neighbors still don't comprehend the 55 gal drums hooked up to the downspouts (whats a 'rainbarrel'...).

There is unfortunately still a huge amount of waste - consider bottled water for example. (but I recycle the bottles....). I prefer tap water. Makes one wonder what would happen if we went back to putting 5c deposits on bottles - I'd start with the plastic water bottles, jeeze what a waste of resources. I can recycle plastic bottles, but I can't buy 2x4's made of recycled plastic at the local hardware stores. Much still needs to change in our collective mindsets.

But some attitudes are changing - kids in schools are learning about the environment, about going green. There are recycle bins in many schools. And we're driving cars that get 50 mpg. So we're making progress. Just not fast enough for some of us.

 

It works with Safari . Thank you for this link. I order online and with it comes an onslaught of catalogs. Starting in October, I get so many catalogs. It becomes riculous, I get early autumn, late autumn, early winter, late winter and sale versions of ONE catalog. Multiple that. I recycle them, but I'm tired of taking them out of the mailbox and into the recycle pile, without even looking at them. I order online, obviously I know how to find these companies without a catalog.
This has to be one of the best green tips on here.

 

I don't know where you live, but we've had deposits on all kinds of bottles in California for as long as I remember.

When I was young it was a trash issue. They thought if you paid a deposit which you could get back if you returned the bottle to the store, you wouldn't litter. (Especially the beaches and freeways.)

Then the stores stopped giving you back deposits on bottles. I still find that highly inconvenient as I was used to returned them on shopping day. But there is now recycling. I know the current recycling is a ripoff as I'm sure I'm paying more for the deposit than I'm getting back from the recycler. But I recycle anyway.

I too remember the paper drives. Our church did them.

At least now I can put even more kinds of recycling in my blue barrel. The city just expanded the list this year.